DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9840#0159
VII.] A CELEBRATED MOHAMMEDAN LEADER. 109
the island. The beauty of Glemedhi's person, the tall-
ness of his stature, the splendour of his arms, the loud-
ness of his voice, and the swiftness of his feet, are all
themes of praise even to my Sfakian companion20.
In listening to the recital of this chieftain's exploits, I
am constantly reminded of the different characteristics of
several of Homer's heroes. Glemedhi's personal beauty,
his swiftness of foot21, and his incomparable valour, are
all traits found in the well-known picture of Achilles;
his loud and sonorous voice is spoken of so as to remind
me of several of the Grecian warriors at Ilium, and even
of the brazen-voiced and brazen-hearted Stentor himself:
the exclamations addressed by the Cretan hero to the
enemy, in the contests, which, for sometime before his
death, used almost daily to take place between Christian
and Mohammedan combatants, resemble, in no less
striking and interesting a manner, the speeches ex-
changed between the contending warriors on the plain
of Troy22.
Glemedhi had five brothers, one alone of whom died
a natural death, the others having all fallen by the
sword in the bloody contest with the Christians.
20 Manias said : " Gleme'dhis might always be recognized, t]tov yvwpt-
<rr<k irdvTOTes, from his rich arms, and his commanding person : he was
very swift of foot, ypijyopoi to iroSdpca, and never did an engagement take
place in which he was not one of the foremost combatants: he had a loud
shrill voice, el^e <ricX»jpr}j> <pu>vi\y
21 I hear this quality assigned to many of the Cretan heroes of the revo-
lution, especially to the Mountaineers, who have always delighted in the
chase. Athenaeus, xiv. 630. b. 01 Sk Kpr/Te? Kvvi)yeTiKo't, Slo xai
7T00WK61S.
22 The following is one of these dialogues ; it took place on the very
day of Gleme'dhi's death, between him and Papa-Anagndstes. When the
Christians began to retreat from the Three Churches, T£»j Tpels 'E/oc\tj-
o-iat's, in the neighbourhood of Rhithymnos, Glemedhi exclaimed : SraS^xe"
Trod (pevyeTe Kepa.Ta.6es • ctaQ?]Te vd ads oei^w <n'ip.epov ttwi iro\ep.ovvi
ol dvSpes. The Christian Captain, in his reply, expressed a wish, which the
result of the day verified : '0 Ka7rtTa'vios 'Avayvoj<TTii<s tov elirev' " eTropue?
cri)pepov, KKfj-dyd, ottcos vd iro\efxi]<r\ts' op.ois opiTL^w gtov dedv oVtos vd
/uij yvpiaqs, vd ere idrj -rrXeov 1/ p.dva crov — irapd vd elvat ?) vaTepivij <ro\>
i\p.epa <rt)p.epov.
the island. The beauty of Glemedhi's person, the tall-
ness of his stature, the splendour of his arms, the loud-
ness of his voice, and the swiftness of his feet, are all
themes of praise even to my Sfakian companion20.
In listening to the recital of this chieftain's exploits, I
am constantly reminded of the different characteristics of
several of Homer's heroes. Glemedhi's personal beauty,
his swiftness of foot21, and his incomparable valour, are
all traits found in the well-known picture of Achilles;
his loud and sonorous voice is spoken of so as to remind
me of several of the Grecian warriors at Ilium, and even
of the brazen-voiced and brazen-hearted Stentor himself:
the exclamations addressed by the Cretan hero to the
enemy, in the contests, which, for sometime before his
death, used almost daily to take place between Christian
and Mohammedan combatants, resemble, in no less
striking and interesting a manner, the speeches ex-
changed between the contending warriors on the plain
of Troy22.
Glemedhi had five brothers, one alone of whom died
a natural death, the others having all fallen by the
sword in the bloody contest with the Christians.
20 Manias said : " Gleme'dhis might always be recognized, t]tov yvwpt-
<rr<k irdvTOTes, from his rich arms, and his commanding person : he was
very swift of foot, ypijyopoi to iroSdpca, and never did an engagement take
place in which he was not one of the foremost combatants: he had a loud
shrill voice, el^e <ricX»jpr}j> <pu>vi\y
21 I hear this quality assigned to many of the Cretan heroes of the revo-
lution, especially to the Mountaineers, who have always delighted in the
chase. Athenaeus, xiv. 630. b. 01 Sk Kpr/Te? Kvvi)yeTiKo't, Slo xai
7T00WK61S.
22 The following is one of these dialogues ; it took place on the very
day of Gleme'dhi's death, between him and Papa-Anagndstes. When the
Christians began to retreat from the Three Churches, T£»j Tpels 'E/oc\tj-
o-iat's, in the neighbourhood of Rhithymnos, Glemedhi exclaimed : SraS^xe"
Trod (pevyeTe Kepa.Ta.6es • ctaQ?]Te vd ads oei^w <n'ip.epov ttwi iro\ep.ovvi
ol dvSpes. The Christian Captain, in his reply, expressed a wish, which the
result of the day verified : '0 Ka7rtTa'vios 'Avayvoj<TTii<s tov elirev' " eTropue?
cri)pepov, KKfj-dyd, ottcos vd iro\efxi]<r\ts' op.ois opiTL^w gtov dedv oVtos vd
/uij yvpiaqs, vd ere idrj -rrXeov 1/ p.dva crov — irapd vd elvat ?) vaTepivij <ro\>
i\p.epa <rt)p.epov.